Twitter Blocks Users From Sharing Other People Personal Photos, Videos Without Their Consent
Twitter implemented new policies on Tuesday that prohibit users from sharing private images of other people without their permission, tightening the network’s policy just a day after it changed CEOs.
People who are not public figures can now ask Twitter to remove photos or videos of them that they claim were posted without their permission, according to the new rules.
This policy does not apply to “public figures or individuals when media and accompanying tweet text are shared in the public interest or add value to public discourse,” according to Twitter.
“We will always try to assess the context in which the content is shared,” the company added. “In such cases, we may allow the images or videos to remain on the service.”
The right of Internet users to file complaints with platforms when images or data about them are posted by third parties, particularly for malicious purposes, has been a source of contention for many years.
Twitter already prohibits the publication of private information such as a person’s phone number or address, but the company expressed “growing concern” about the use of content to “harass, intimidate, and reveal the identities of individuals.”
According to the company, there was a “disproportionate effect on women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities.”
The barrages of racist, sexist, and homophobic abuse on Twitch, the world’s largest video game streaming site, are high-profile examples of online harassment.
However, instances of harassment abound, and victims must frequently fight for long periods of time to have hurtful, insulting, or illegally produced images of themselves removed from online platforms.
Some Twitter users pressed the company to explain how the new policy would work.
“Is this to say that if I photograph, say, a concert in Central Park, I must obtain the permission of everyone in the photograph? We weaken the public’s sense to the public’s detriment “Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor at City University of New York, tweeted about it.
The change occurred the day after Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey announced his departure and delegated CEO duties to company executive Parag Agrawal.
Like other social media platforms, the platform has struggled with bullying, misinformation, and hate-filled content.
